Pneumatic-action unit



S. BANNER.

PNEUMATIC ACTION UNIT.

APPLICATION FILED MR. 9, I920.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.,

" [W non 522752527 31277 2 manure Y WITNESSES UNITED STATES STEPHEN BATTNER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PNEUMATIC-ACTION UNIT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

Application filed January 9, 1920. Serial No. 350,431.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, STEPHEN BATTNER, a

' citizen of the United States, and a resident ward economy of material and labor and in creases the efficiency of the devices.

Among the objects of the invention is to improve the facilities for utilizing inclependently manipulated pneumatic units whereby any of the units may be easily reached for inspection, repair, interchange, or the like, at any time and without disturbing any other of the units. I am aware that unit structures for pneumatics have been proposed heretofore but I believe that they all are more involved and complicated, and hence liable to more structural and practical defects than my new construction.

'With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in, the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating a practical embodiment thereof reference is had to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same parts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a ,portion of a pneumatic action showing several of my units.

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section ofone of my neumatics.

' Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the inner member of the unit.

Fig. 4-. is a rear elevation of the outer tending throughout the length of the chest. This structural detail as usual sufiicientlv substantial to constitute a means of support for a series of pneumatics 12 which per se may be of any suitiblc construction but adapted for independent cotiperation with unit valve chests or valve units 13 as they will be referred to hereinafter. The front side or face 14 of the tension chest 10 is flat and smooth and is adapted to receive the several valve lllllbS 13 for independent manipulation, adjustment or control:

The vacuum chamber 11 while being substantially coextensive with the structure of the chest 10 and of approz-zimately full width of the upper portionv thereof, is relatively shallow in depth. Leading forward from the vacuum chamber is a draft opening 15 in the form of a longitudinal slot and hence having a large capacity for the ouiclz movement of air impulses. Beneath tne vacuum chamber and independent thereof there is formed a vent 16 direct to the atmosphere at the rear of the chest 10. This is indicated as a simple cylindrical bore. Furthermore beneath the atmosphere vent 16 is formed a vent 17 leading to the pneumatic 12 directly beneath it.

Each of .the valve units considered as chest comprises two main structural parts 13 and 13 which are of the same height and width and are adapted to mate together face to face and so be secured by any suitable means including dowel pins 18 extending from one part into the other. Likewise dowels 19 may be employed between the front surface 14 of the vacuum chest and the inner members 13 of the valve units.

The member 1- is provided with vacu-' um chamber 20 formed in its rear side but over which is stretched loosely a diaphragm 21 having a dislr 22 its cent r. Th s diaphragm makes an air tight closure for the rear of the chamber 20*. Communication however with said chamber is had through any suitably arranged port- 23 to which a tube 24 leads from a tracker board, or its equivalent, for controlling the vacuum in the chamber 20 A pin hole 25 or bleeder .port is formed at any convenient place in the member 133, but preferably between the rear wall thereof and the port 23.

The valve unit member 13 is provided with a valve chamber 26 in its rear wall, said chamber being in direct communication with the atmosphere and pneumatic vents 16 and .with the atmosphere vent 16..

- chamber.

17. Supported in any suitable manner with- 1n the valve chamber 26 IS a valve 27 having front and rear faces a? and 27" adapted to 006 aerate res ectivel with valve seats 28 and 28. The normal position however of thevalve is as shown in Fig. 2 closing the port 29 and which is surrounded by said valve seat 28 and consequently in allnement 'forward from the center of the valve through the port 29 in position to be struck by the disk 22 carried by the ciaphragm'. The front of the member 13 is provided with a vacuum chamber 20? constituting in efiect an extension of the chamber 20? out separated therefrom by the loosely stretched diaphragm. A draft opening 33 leads from the upper end oi the vacuum chamber 2O directly into communication with the draft opening 15 leading to the tension chamber 11. v

Any suitable means may be provided to hold the members l3 and 13 together or both of them as a unit to the front wallls of the tension chest. To this endl indicate a series ofscrews '34; cooperating with the tension chest between adjacent valve. units 13, each screw'having a plate 35 bearmg against the front surface of the outer member 18 Thus by the loosening of any screw and the swinging of the plate carried thereby around through. 90 degrees any of the valve unlts'may be removed directly as indicated in Fig. 1.

With a normal suction or vacuum tension in the chamber 11 the valve2'? seated against the seat 28 closing the port 29. Thesame vacuum condition obtains in V the vacuum chambers 20 'a'nd 20 inthe .por

L- 23 as in the tension chest 11' by reason of thefequalization port or bleed hole 25; Atmospheric pressure obtains at this time in and through the port 16, valve chamber 26, port l7 and interior. of the pneumatic 12.. The instant however that the vacuum is oroken in'the port 23, as by means oi: the perforated sheet passing over the tracker board or any equivalent mecl1anism, which constituting no part of this invention is not shown, the suction tension acting-outward from the chamber 2O through the port 33 serves to cause the disk 22 to impinge against the valve stem 32, unseating the valve from the seat 28 and causing the seating thereof on the seat 28 The interiorjor" the pneumatlc is brought consequently lnto dlrect communication with the tension'chamber As indicated is held f inc es? through the port 17, valve chamber 26, port 29 and vacuum chamber 20*, the stem 32 being long enough to prevent the obstruction of this communication. Therefore the pneumatic is instantly. collapsed by the 622- ternal pressure around it. The moment that the tension is restored in the port 23 and the pressure is equalized onopposite sides or the diaphragm the valve is restored to its normal position admitting atmospheric air again into the pneumatic .Thus it will be seen that i provide the maximum degree of simplicity and etlici-ency in pneumatic units insuring not only reliability of operation but durability of construction.

I claim: a

l. in pneumatic act1ons,the combination of. a tension chest having a smoothfront face, series of pneumatics supported by t chest and a series of valve units for. the respective pneumatics, said valve units being secured independent of one another to said smooth face,each valve unit comprising two'separable parts, a valve mechanism within each unit, and means serving to hold the different parts of each unit together and the unit as a whole against the tension chest.

2. In a pneumatic action, the combination of tension chesthaving a vacuum space therein and an opening through one wall ommuQicating with said space, a passage or airgopening through the same wall and extenling through the chest to the atmosphere, and a passage opening through the same wall and extendingthrough the chest to a pointspaced from the communication with the atmosphere; a detachable'sectional valve chest unit applied to the wall aforesaid and communicating with the three openings specified, said chest being provided. with avalve chamber communicating with the passage to the atmosphere and with the passage last mentioned above,said unit ha ing also a diaphragm chamber back of he valve. chamber, there being a portlead- 1 f om the valve chamber to the dia- ,m chamber in alinement with the pase' to the atmos' here, the diaphragm ofthe tension chest, and the diaphragm 'hamber having also a passage leading from chamber having also a passage leading therefrom'through which air may be admitted troma tracker barga diaphragm located in the diaphragm chamber and dividing 'it into two parts there being a bleed port. to establish communlcation between the two parts or" the diaphragm chamber to equalize pressureson opposite sides of the diaphragm, and a pneumatic communicatingwith the third passage above mentioned leading through the tension chest.

3. in a pneumatic player-piano action,the

combination of a tension chest; a detachable.

sectional valve chest unit detachably applied to one wall of the tension chest, the parts of the valve chest including a diaphragm chamber, a valve chamber and ports or passages for communication with the tracker bar, the pneumatic and the atmosphere, the plane of division between the valve chest and the tension chest being so located that the wall of the tension chest forms one wall of the valve chamber, and the line of division between the ports of the valve chest extending through the diaphragm chamber in a plane parallel to the face of the aforesaid wall of the tension. chest; a valve in the valve chamber, and a diaphragm in the diaphragm chamber 00- operating with the valve.

Q. In a pneumatic player-piano action, a pneumatic, a tension chest provided with a vacuum space and having an opening through one wall communicating with said space and a passage for atmospheric air extending from back to front of the tension chest to one side of the vacuum space, in combination with a valve chest unit applied to said wall and adapted to control communications between said pneumatic and the vacuum space and air passage aforesaid.

In a pneumatic player-piano action, a pneumatic, a tension chest havin an opening through one wall communicating with the vacuum space of the chest; a passage for atmospheric air extending from back to front of the trunk to one side of the vacuum space; a passage opening through the same wall and extending through the walls of the chest to a point convenient for connection with said pneumatic, in combination with a valve chest unit applied to the aforesaid wall over the openings therein and adapted to control the communications between the passage connected with the pneumatic and the vacuum soace and the air assa e aforesal STEPHEN BATTNER. 

